Furnace



U. WEDGE Aug. 4, 1925.

FURNACE 2 Shuts-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 18. 1922 ---u-nhF-I-n----- Aug 4,1925.

U. WEDGE FURNACE Filed Aug. 18, 1922 2 Shows-Sheet, 2

Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

UTIIJEY .WEDGE, 0F ARDMOBE, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Application filed August 1 8; 1922. Serial 1T0. 582,735..

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, UTLEY WEDGE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Ardmore, in the county of Montgomery, State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inFurnaces, of which the following is a true and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawlngs, which form a partthereof.

My invention relates to furnaces and while in many respects adapted forgeneral furnace construction, it is especially designed for applicationto domestic furnaces for heating houses. Theobject of my inven-.

tion is to provide a furnace which will burn fuel with great efficiencyand economy and is especially adapted for economical use with a greatvariety of fuels.

-The nature of my improvements will be best understood as described inconnection with the drawings in which they are illustated and in which Ia Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the furnace and fuelfeedingmechanism shown in connection with mechanism for feeding the coal,rotating the gate, and forcing air into the furnace.

Figure 2 is a plan view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1..

Figure 3 an elevation at right angles t the view shown in Fig. 1,showing a portion of the actuating mechanism.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the fuel distributor used in connection, withand 'in a sense forming a part of the grate, and

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation showin a modification cf the grate andof the as hoppers.

A is a base plate having a central annular rim A. Sup-ported on theplate A is the casing A having, as shown, a bearing sur- Y face A and anopening A? for the entrance of air. The upper part of this casing,indicated at A, in connection with the movable part indicated at A",forms an enclosing cas ing for the gear mechanism to be described, thebearing, indicated at A, and the rotatable sleeve H. A A are angle ironcolumns supporting at their tops the angle iron ring indicated at B andthrough brackets, as shown, the ring indicated at B. B is the bottomplate of the furnace supported on the rings B and B. B is an annularring forming the bottom of the furnace chamber and supporting the casingE which forms the top of the furnace chamber and is provided with acentrally located opening indicated at E for the delivery of'fuel. E Eetc. are flues leading from the top of the furnace, the annular flue ordrum E from which leads the smoke pipe indicated at E and an inspectionconduit indicated at E. E indicates an opening leading into the furnaceby which access can be had to the internal mechanism. F is a verticalpipe stepped in the annular rim and having openings in its bottomindicated at F for the entrance of air and openings at its top indicatedat F through which the air escapes into the bottom of the furnace. G isa portion of the grate acting as a fuel distributor and is secured tothe top of the pipe F. H is a sleeve surrounding the pipe -F and suported, as shown, on ball bearings in icated at HQ To this sleeve isattached the gear wheel H by means of which, and mechanism to bedescribed, it is rotated. To the to of the sleeve H is secured theannular plate ndicated at H, H H, on which issupported the rotatablegrate indicated at ll. In the portion H? of the annular plate beforementioned is formed the openin H to which is connected an ash receptac eindicated at J" and in the bottom plate B is formed the opening B towhich is connected the ash receptacle indicated at J. H" H indicate ashsweepers secured to the plate H", H H, as shown, and moving with saidplate. At H H are ash sweepers secured to the pipe F and in theorganization shown remain stationary. K is a fuel hopper having an openbottom K and set in a cylini drical c'asin having a flat bottom K at oneside of whic is formed an opening K o ning into a conveyor tube K inwliic is located a conveyor screw K by which the fuel is moved to theopening E. K is a gear wheel secured to the shaft of the conveyor K andengaged by a. gear K on the 1m shaft K which, as shown, is provided witha universal joint K and a gear wheel K at its bottom. K is a rotatingdisc located beneath the hopper bottom above the flat plate K androtated by means of a shaft K hav- 1 ving a gear wheel K secured to itsbottom,

as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. K is a swee r extending over the edge of therotatin isc K so as to sweep the fuel from the e gs of this plate intothe opening-K 1 L is an electric motor actuating the shaft L, oneen'd ofwhich actuates the fan indicated at M, on the other end of which issecured the worm L engaged with the worm wheel L secured to the shaftL", on the ends of which shaft are secured the slotted crank armsindicated at L, L. The crankarm L actuates the connecting rod N which is'connected to the arm N of a lever N N pivoted on the shaft and actingthrough pawls N and a ratchet wheel 0 on the shaft 0 which shaft,through a worm indicated at 0 engages the worm wheel K and actua ors theshaft I. The crank arm L actuates the connecting rod a which, throughthe lever In the modification illustrated in Fig. 5,,

the flat outer grate indicated 21 is secured to the top of the sleeve H,being attached to the flange h, as shown. To this flange are alsoattached the sore ers H, which move over the bottom plate 3 in which isformed the usual opening 12 leading into the ash receptacle 9'. Thecircular rate is formed .with a downwardly extending flange indicated ati which is shown extended to the annular gutter indicated at T. itindicates a scraper secured in fixed position and 0 erating to sweep ashfrom the outer edge 0 the grate into the ash receptacle indicated at S.In operation the hopper K is filled with fuel which, of course, restsupon the rotatingdisc or table K"; the motor being in operation thedisc'K is rotated by a series of intermittent movements imparted by the.

ratchet movement described. The worm feed K is rotated by the describedmechanism and an intermittent rotative movement given to the shaft P andthrough it and the describedgearing, to the sleeve H and the annularplate H H H and tothe grate por tion supported on this plate. At thesame t1me the fan is actuated, driving air through the conduit M intothe casing A and through the vertical ipe F into the space beneath thegrate. T e fuel fed tothe furnace chamber falls through the opening E onto the top of the fuel distributor G and on to the top of. the grateportion I, and, as the grate revolves, the fuel is pushed out by thedistributor which, as shown and above described is stationary; althoughof -course it operates in the safiie. way as though the distributorrotated and the outer grate stood ntaaaaa still. The air blast finds itswaythrough the" grate and the products of combustion pass ofi" throughthe vertical drums E, the

angular drum E and the smoke pipe E;

H H H and the stationary sweepers H a sweep itinto the opening H andinto the ash receptacle J; such ash as approaches the outer rim or" H isswept ofi the plate and into the opening B by the sweeper H and iscaught in the receptacle J.

. Obviously the rate at which fuel is fed to the furnace, the amount ofair supplied and the speed of rotation of the grate should vary with theamount of heat required and this is readily provided for by theprovision of a thermostat, as indicated in Fig. 3, to control the s eedof the motor.

In the mo ification shown in Fig. 5, a flat grate is used and stationaryhoppers are provided for the ash which passes through the grate and theash which is swept olf from the top of the grate. In other respects theoperation of the modified device is practically the same as that alreadydescribed.

While in my claims I refer to the two positions of my grate as being onestationary and the other relatively movable, it will be obvious thatboth may'move so long as there is such relative diiference in theirrotative movement as to result in the central element acting to push thefuel outward over the outer element. That is to say, my claims areintended to cover all equivalents. Having now described my invention,what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a furnace for burning solid carbonaceous fuel in a shallow shiftmglayer moving radially outward over the grate, a relatively rotatingperforated grate in combination with a relatively stationary fuel usherof relatively small diameter centrally ocated'above and close to thegrate surface and characterized by having obliquely set pusher armsangled with reference to \the rotating grate surface to push the fuellyin between them on the grate surface outwar onto the outer portion ofthe grate and centrally located means for feeding fresh fuel over thefuel pusher and between itspusher I to push the fuel lying between themon the grate surface outward onto the outer por' tion of the grate andcentrally located means solid carbonfor feeding fresh fuel over the fuelpusher and between its pusher arms. 1

3. In a furnace for burnin solid carbonaceous fuel in a shallow shiftinglayer moving radially outward over the grate, a rotating perforatedgrate in combinatlon with a stationary fuel pusher of relatively smalldiameter centrall located above and close to the grate sur ace andcharacterized by having obliquely set pusher arms angled with referenceto the rotating grate surface to push the fuel lying between them on thegrate surface outward onto the outer portion of the grate, centrallylocated means for feeding fresh fuel over the fuel pusher and betweenits pusher arms. an ashreceptacle below and at one side of the grate anda sweeper operating on the edge of the rotating grate to sweep ash intothe receptacle.

4. In a furnace for'burning solid fuel the combination with a furnacechamber of a grate for supporting the fuel made up of a stationary camshaped central portion and a rotatable perforated outer portion, saidcam shaped central portion being so formed as to'progressively ush thefuel outward onto and over the per orated outer portion, a coni veyorfor feeding fuel to the centre of the grate, a fuel hopper having arotating disc located below its bottom opening, a scraper arranged tosweep fuel from said disc into the conveyor, an air conduit openingbelow the grate and power means for rotatmg the disc and grate.

UTLEY WEDGE.

